


Meet Me Halfway

by harpohufflepuff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s08e01 Launch Date, Episode: s08e07 Day Forty-Seven, Fix-It, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), S8 fix-it, Season 8, UGH they're so perfect for each other, all it takes is for their characters to be written accurately, and they just naturally make each other better, can I get an amen, i didn't even realize all the ways i showed them being compatible, i want to put canon's head on a stick, i went back and reread my work, if you were hurt by season 8 then clap your hands, it's literally just because i tried to keep their characters the same, keith (voltron) is a cat, klance, s8, some allurance at the beginning but dw this is big time klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 01:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17152661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harpohufflepuff/pseuds/harpohufflepuff
Summary: Canon divergent starting from S8E1, Launch Date.This is how I expected the season to go when I was about halfway through the first episode (y'all know which part) and I texted my friend in a manic fever that Klance was definitely happening this season. And then it didn't.So I did.Fulfills the purpose of fanfic. Here you go.





	Meet Me Halfway

“Man, you can be a real hard guy to find when you want to be.”

“Hey, Lance--WOAH! What are you wearing??”

Keith’s eyes bug out of his head as he looks Lance up and down. Lance might have made fun, if he hadn’t been feeling a little too humbled by his day with Coran. He’d spent the whole time telling Lance that he wasn’t worthy of dating Allura, and therefore needed to completely change the way he dressed, talked, acted… change the way he WAS, just to have a hope of being barely good enough. 

He knows Coran’s probably just overdoing it. It’s the night before they leave on their final mission, where they’ll once again be facing the unknown, countless people and things that want nothing more than to destroy them as they fight tooth and nail to save the universe, and with Coran charged with Allura’s safety… this was the one thing he could control, and he’d latched onto it for dear life. Lance had gone along with it to give Coran the peace of mind he obviously craved. But also, on a deeper level, he knows he's not exactly an ideal candidate for the role of Allura’s boyfriend. He needs to change, so he can be the person Allura needs him to be. 

He’s been chasing her for so long, and now he finally has a chance. No matter how suffocating it feels now, he can see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and it’s that promise that makes the ordeal a little more bearable.

But now Keith is staring at him in shocked horror, and with a string of sausages around his neck and various kitchen implements hanging off his clothes, the only thing he can feel is embarrassment. 

He lets out a low groan as he moves to sit next to Keith on the Black Lion’s head. “Coran made it for me for my date with Allura.” 

“A date with Allura? Wow. Well done Lance.” Keith is smiling at him. He thinks Lance is happy. That Lance is looking for someone to celebrate with. But Lance… Lance needs someone to understand. 

He takes the large pot off his head and frowns at it dejectedly. “Thanks, but it could be our last. I can’t keep all these Altean customs straight.” He considers saying more, but doesn’t. Keith has never needed more from him. 

He’s proven right. “Listen. If she’s going out with you, it’s because she likes you. The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you.” And Lance has been calling himself an annoying, stupid Earthling all day, but Keith says it with a fondness that makes Lance’s brain feel warm, and he laughs a bit as he looks out to the horizon. 

“You watching the sunset?” 

“Yeah. Might be awhile before we get to see it again.”

“Man. I’m really gonna miss this place.”

“That’s why we’ve gotta end this war.” At the change in tone, Lance looks at Keith, who’s still facing the sun. With the determination in his voice, Lance might have thought it was the same Keith he flew into a wormhole with a year ago, who never had the patience for anything but fighting, all the time. But there’s a softness in his eyes that wasn’t there before, and it only increases as Keith continues. “And we’re gonna do it with the Lance that’s the paladin of the Red Lion. The Lance that’s always got my back. And the Lance who knows exactly who he is, and what he’s got to offer.” He turns to look at Lance then, and Lance can hardly breathe with the way Keith is looking at him, and the way the sunlight is giving him this _glow_ , and he flashes back to a foggy memory of blistering pain, purple light, the muffled relief of victory, and tender smiles shared in a whispered promise of partnership. His brain sinks even deeper into the warmth.

Which means it's entirely Keith's fault for what he says next.

“Man, if only dating Allura was as easy as talking to you,” he sighs, and instantly both he and Keith stiffen. Saying anything else will only dig him a deeper hole; the only thing he can do is clear his throat, turn away quickly, and do his best to pretend to watch the sunset again. 

This is dangerous territory. This is getting too close to something they’ve been aware of for ages but have never talked about BECAUSE it’s dangerous territory. This is admitting too much, changing too much, completely subverting the dynamic between two of the most important people in the universe (three, if you include what it would mean for Lance and Allura). This is... this is thin ice, threatening to break if they take one wrong step. 

So of course Keith, beacon of patience, master of finesse, shining example of subtlety, decides to pull out a baseball bat and slam into that ice as hard as he can.

“Well… maybe that means something.” 

Lance whips his head around, but now Keith is the one staring resolutely at the skyline, a muscle working in his jaw as he prepares to say his next words. “I don’t wanna… I don’t wanna mess this up by saying the wrong thing, but this feels like the right time.”

Well, Lance is gone. His jaw? Dropped. He's pretty sure he heard it bang into the metal of the Black Lion. He only manages to bring it back long enough to say, “Keith…” He doesn’t even know what he wants to say. Whether to stop him or let him continue. It doesn’t matter though. No matter how much he matured on that space whale (a process Lance still doesn’t entirely understand, by the way), Keith will always do what he thinks is the right thing to do, no doubt or deliberation. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, opens them again, and continues.

“Go on your date with Allura. I know how long you’ve wanted this, and it would be wrong of me to try and stop you. But… just… think of the big picture, alright? Take a step back and think about the kind of relationship you’d have with her… with me.” He clenches his fists at that, finally saying outright what’s previously only been implicated. “But no matter what you decide, make sure the choice is one that’ll let you be happy being yourself.” He exhales quietly, and finally looks at Lance again with that smile and those _eyes_ , those freaking _eyes_. 

The last reddish glow of the sunset fades away, and in the contrast of the cool Lance realizes he’s going to be late for his date. For Allura, who’s probably getting ready for it right now. For what he’s wanted for so, so long. 

But… he can’t just leave Keith without a word. Not after everything he just said, the risks he took. He has to at least meet him halfway. 

“I can’t give you an answer right away. You’re right, this is something big for me. Just… give me some time, okay? I don’t really know how to deal with all this and, uh…” He tilts his head towards Keith and smiles a bit, raising one eyebrow. “The person I usually go to for good advice just became part of the problem.” And Keith has the decency to look at least a little sheepish.

Lance stands up. 

“I gotta go, but, I _will_ talk to you, okay? I promise. I do have some sympathy, after all. Can't be easy waiting on all this perfection." He throws in finger guns and a wink for good measure, and Keith laughs and even blushes a bit, and _that_ makes Lance feel like he's just personally defeated Haggar and saved the universe. But the night is getting on, and Lance has to go. He slowly turns and walks away, smiling to himself. 

With a matching smile on his face, Keith looks up at the darkened sky. He watches the stars come out. 

... 

The date is going well.

Allura came in Earth clothes, and she looks amazing. His family is getting along well with her. He rubs it in Rachel’s face that he gets to sit at the adult table now while she’s still stuck at the kiddie one. Dinner is delicious and amicable (except for one small hiccup where Veronica asked him to set her up with Keith, but he totally played it off smoothly). Now he and Allura are quietly walking in the park together under a starry sky. 

Briefly, Lance wonders if Keith is still sitting on the Black Lion, memorizing the way these stars look from Earth one last time. 

They come to a dead, twisted tree, and Lance grimaces as he remembers it full of life. 

“This place used to be so beautiful.”

“It’s my fault the Galra did this to your home,” Allura says with a remorseful sigh.

“No, it’s not your fault. Besides, meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me.” And he... isn't going to dwell on whether he means that or not. Begone, thoughts.

Allura looks contemplative for a moment, then steps forward wordlessly and places her hand on the tree. A blue glow emanates outward from her hand. Slowly, it covers the rest of the tree, and then the rest of the park, and as Lance watches new shoots start to grow from dead branches. Leaves and flowers spring forth as if they're watching a time-lapse video. By the time the glow fades, the park is full of life. 

He’s seen Allura’s magic so many times, but it always leaves him stunned. And this time, she did it for a place close to him, because she wanted him to be happy... right? Or, was it guilt?

He remembers what Keith asked of him. He takes a step back. Looks at the whole picture of their relationship. He thinks about how long he’s been pining for her, what she represents to him. How she only started responding to him after Lotor. How they’ve… never really had a conversation that wasn’t about the Galra, or him comforting her. Huh.

She’s looking at him now. Her eyes are just as soft as Keith’s, but not in the same way. They’re filled with melancholy, like she, too, is aware of the distance between them and is wishing it wasn’t there, but without the motivation to cross it herself. So soon after Lotor, she just wants someone she can count on to be devoted to her, and Lance is--well, he's the obvious choice. He can’t even bring himself to be bitter. He knows she cares for him, and he thinks she wishes it was romantically too, but at the end of the day they both know: he’s a rebound. And he’s not entirely blameless, either. He held on too tightly for too long. 

He could keep holding on. He has that option. He can tell she wants this, even if it's only so she can forget about Lotor. So she can have something to care about other than the war. So she can have a hope for happiness. He could give all of that to her, and the prospect is tempting, but... he knows it'll only make it hurt more later. So instead he lets them both down easy. 

“Listen, Allura…”

At the tone of his voice, she looks crestfallen, but not surprised. He continues.

“I’m glad you agreed to come out tonight. I think it was good for both of us, even if it’s not for the reason we wanted, so... I think we should stay as friends.”

A pause.

“What changed?”

He doesn't answer immediately, considering his words.

“I looked at the big picture.”

... 

By the end of the night, they’ve had their first-ever small talk, and when they part it's as better friends than when they started. It’s nice.

He doesn’t go to Keith yet.

... 

Day forty-seven aboard the ISS Atlas. 

When Kinkade and Rizavi approach Lance with a camera, he already knows what’s happening. They’ve been going around interviewing everyone about their jobs, trying to capture life in space for posterity. It reminds him of the video diaries he got everyone to do on the Castle of Lions, except for way more exciting, since it would be actual scenes of what was happening. Also, Rizavi has a razzle-dazzle vision that he can totally get behind.

Oh man, Keith had _cried_ during his vlog. He'd gotten so caught up in talking to the camera he'd started psychoanalyzing himself and had to barge out when the ol’ space dust started acting up. It was probably the cutest thing Lance had ever seen. And it's no one's beeswax if he's rewatched it several times since.

Speaking of Keith, Lance is acutely aware of the gaze on the back of his head as Rizavi asks him, “Lance, how are you feeling about the mission you’re about to go on?”

He runs through the mission in his head. Go down to the planet’s surface, secure the Robeast, find the pilot. Simple. “I’m feeling good, I guess.” 

Unless the pilot gets hostile. “Maybe a little tense.” 

Unless the Robeast reactivates. “Maybe a lot tense?!?” 

Oh god, what if they can’t beat it? What if Lance isn’t fast enough to keep it away from his teammates?? What if it explodes and they’re all consumed in fiery death??? Oh no, no no no no no no, he’s spiraling, and he can’t stop himself from practically screeching, “I don’t know! Why’d you have to ask me that question?!?”

He feels Allura's hand on his shoulder and he uses it to ground himself while she takes over the question for him. “I think what Lance is trying to say is, he’ll be fine. We all will.” Exhaling in relief, he shoots her a grateful smile, and when Keith immediately pulls everyone’s focus back to the mission, Lance pretends it’s only because he’s the team leader.

The truth is, he still hasn’t talked to Keith, despite his promise. He’s planning to, okay? It’s just that he’s been going after Allura for so long now, he needs a rest just so that he can get used to not thinking about her and return to who he was before. Keith had said he wanted Lance to be happy being himself, and Lance had since realized that he wanted that too. So he was trying. 

But... it doesn’t help that he and Allura have had an easier comradery ever since their failed date. They’ve made it known they’re not together, and Keith said he’d be fine whatever Lance chose, but it can’t be easy thinking that someone you’ve confessed to didn’t choose someone else, only to not choose you either. And whenever he and Allura touch, or joke together, or he throws out a terrible pickup line for her to swat him over, all he has to do is turn his head to see Keith pouting. And as adorable as that is, it does make him feel guilty for leaving him hanging.

(Sometimes he starts thinking about how Keith would use that pout against him if they were dating, but he stops himself whenever it happens. Usually mostly sometimes.)

It also doesn’t help that Lance _wants_ to choose Keith. He really, really does. Steering his mind away from Allura has made _that_ clearer every day. Whenever he thinks about the kind of relationship he now knows he wants--two people having fun together and supporting each other like friends, except for more often and with some ~added intimacy~ (he plans to wiggle his eyebrows at Keith here, once he talks to him)--Keith fits so obviously into that picture, it makes his chest squeeze every time he thinks about it for more than two seconds, and he just wants to find Keith and hold him and kiss him and tell him he chooses him, that he’ll always, _always_ choose him and that he never wants Keith to think otherwise.

Because as much as Lance doesn’t want to lose himself in a relationship again, he feels like he wouldn’t, with Keith. Keith isn’t asking him to go the full distance; he’d made the first move, after all, opening up in a way Lance knew wasn’t easy for him. Lance just needs to meet him halfway.

He doesn’t have to chase, this time. And not having to chase is unfamiliar, and unfamiliar things are scary, and Lance has anxiety, and in short he’s petrified that he’s going to mess it up. So he doesn’t go to Keith. 

What he hadn't counted on, but should have, is for Keith, beacon of patience, master of finesse, shining example of subtlety, to come to him.

He’d been comforting Allura after she was once again rejected by the captive Alteans. He gave her a nice, friendly, _platonic_ hug, then watched her go. When he turned back around, Keith was _right there_ , about a foot away and staring at Lance resolutely, and Lance may or may not have let out an unholy shriek and jumped about ten feet in the air because holy crow he hadn’t even heard him walking up what _even_.

He smooths himself out and clears his throat. “Hey man, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Just wanted to talk," he says casually. It's weird though. This is weird. Why is he... glaring?

Lance shrugs. “Okay, what about?”

Keith raises his eyebrow but says nothing. When he doesn’t get a response from Lance, he leans forward a little, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. When there’s still no clue that Lance understands what he wants, he grips his hair and groans loudly (Lance wants to run his fingers through that hair), and the only warning Lance gets is a muttered “You know what, I don’t even _care_ anymore” before Keith grabs his wrist and drags him down the hallway, shoving him into the ship's (mercifully empty) conference room and closing the door behind them. Immediately they hear the muffled crash of a drone camera hitting the door, closely followed by the much larger thud of what is presumably Rizavi right alongside it, with a faint “I told you not to” that sounds like it came from Kinkade. All that's left after is tense silence as Lance and Keith stare at each other; one panicking, the other unwavering. 

Lance wants it known that he's put two and two together now, and he definitely knows what’s happening. What he can’t put off any longer. And it’s ridiculous how he’s still nervous, because, again, he's just meeting Keith halfway. But this… this is a huge change, and the last time there was a huge change in his life he accidentally got drafted into an intergalactic war. So, yeah. Not so easy.

Keith looks softer now, in the dimness of the conference room. He’s obviously still determined not to let Lance leave without getting some form of answer out of him, but he at least seems less frustrated; giving him his full attention, ready to listen. Nothing feels judgmental, which helps Lance breathe a little easier, too. He allows himself a moment to admire Keith, bathed in the orange glow from the screen--an artificial reminder of the only important sunset, several weeks ago and millions of miles away. Keith… really is pretty, and when he speaks, low and vulnerable, Lance feels it in his heart. 

“You promised, Lance.”

He had promised. He can feel it tugging at him now.

He likes the way Keith makes him feel things so easily.

He likes his feelings.

He likes himself.

And he _really_ likes Keith.

And Lance, who chases people, who thinks too much, who runs from his feelings, is tired. He's tired of running from his own heart, tired of sending his brain into overdrive, tired of chasing someone who won't chase him back.

Keith would chase him back.

Lance looks into Keith’s eyes. 

He takes a deep breath. 

And he meets him halfway.


End file.
